How do I not sound nasal?

Question:Hey,
People always tell me that I'm a pretty good singer, but need to work on not
being so 'nasal sounding'. I know I always sound like I've got nasal problems when I
talk or sing, and always have, so how can I fix this problem, without taking voice
lessons and such? I try to pinch my nose shut whilst practicing, but doesn't do much
good - sometimes you just need to use your nose to speak certain words, right?
Loves,
Bri, age 15

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hey,
People always tell me that I'm a pretty good singer, but need to work on not
being so 'nasal sounding'. I know I always sound like I've got nasal problems when I
talk or sing, and always have, so how can I fix this problem, without taking voice
lessons and such? I try to pinch my nose shut whilst practicing, but doesn't do much
good - sometimes you just need to use your nose to speak certain words, right?
Loves,
Bri, age 15

Raise your eyebrows and try to sing like the sound is coming from between your eyebrows and out the top of your forehead while keeping a yawning feeling in the back of your throat. Push your lips into fish lips while you are singing as well. This will open up your vocal instrument and create a more cavernous sound as apposed to the tinny, nasal sound untrained singers seem to come up with.

You'll have to work on diaphramatic breathing. But I'd also see an ENT doctor to see if your adenoids aren't causing a lot of that problem. Sometimes they're just a little too large for someone who needs to move large volumes of air while singing or working on stage. The solution is a quick and easy procedure that will fix the problem in under any hour.

You need to work on your breath control. But if you sound nasal, it's not the end of the world. It might give your voice that unique quality that distinguishes it from everyone else's.

Lie flat on your back and put your hand on your stomach.
Now breadth and the hand should go up when you inhale, and down when you exhale.
When you sing, that is where the power must come from and not the throat.
As you breadth and talk, so the singing is exactly the same. When you yell, you use the stomach muscles and diaphram. So instead of yelling, sing a note.

Pinching your nose isn't going to help you not sound nasally. Make sure you are using head voice and not at the back of the throat. Trust me, if you really want to sing, you are going to need voice lessons. They do wonders for you and though private lessons cost a pretty penny (my first instructer cost $25 for one half-hour session per week!) he or she will know how to work with the voice you were given. I would do this for a couple of months before you decide on any type of surgery one of the responses mentioned. You never know, the problem could be very minor and you would have gone through all the money and procedure just to find that it wasn't really a big deal.
Even so, trust me, TAKE VOICE LESSONS. No one alive is a good enough singer to not have to ever take them. That decision can either make or break your future (or nonexistent) career. You'll be very glad you did.

a sure fire method to help get the nasal sound out. Grab a big mirror and stand where there's good light. Now watch the back of your mouth as you start to yawn. Do you see how the "roof" of your mouth starts to lift? How the uvula lifts and seems to disappear? How the velar palate builds a triangle or at least a diagonal shape back there? good, you are seeing your soft palate in action. Now try and lift it there without yawning. this is one of the few voluntary actions we can perform while singing. you can make it go up and down at will. when the soft palate is down, the passage known as the nasal port ( connecting nose and mout) is open. The sound you are creating drifts out of your mouth into your nose, hence, you are nasal. Pinching your nose shut during singing just lets you know that you are singng nasally, but doesn't correct it. Lifting your soft palate will keep the sound in your mouth, where it belongs.
We only need a nasal contribution when we are using the consonants m and n in English, or the French nasal vowels, otherwise, we have no use for nasal singing.
(Well, all right, if you insist on singing country-western....)